Signal lamp



Aug. 4, 1959 A- VREUGDENHIL SIGNAL LAMP Filed April 2, 1957 FIE-3.2

The present invention relates to a signal lamp in general and for use inan optical system for signalling on board of a vessel in particular.

It is well known that collisions between vessels are rather frequent.The majority occurs in narrow waters and on crowded routes, not only atnighttime but also at daytime, and both during foggy and clear weather.

Quite a number of collisions have been caused, for instance, by theaudible signals not being Well heard, or by their meaning beingmisinterpreted.

A special optical system of signalling, which can be understood withoutfail even by those who have in: sufiicient knowledge of the rules of theroad, or of the regulations for navigation on inland waters has beenproposed before.

The electric lamps by means of which the luminous signs may be producedshould meet certain requirements. That is to say, the transparenthousings of the electric bulbs should be designed as to prevent rays ofthe rising or setting sun, or of other sources of light, from being soreflected by the surfaces of said housing that, when the electric bulbsare extinguished,the look-outs on other vessels in the vicinity, mightreceive the impression of luminous signals. 7

It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide arelatively small lamp housing, which is adapted to accommodate ordinary,relatively small, substantially spherical electric bulbs and is made ofglass or other -suit able transparent material.

With this and other objects in view which will become apparent in thefollowing detailed description, the present invention will be clearlyunderstood in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of a transparent lamp housing in accordancewith the present invention, the electric bulb therein being shown indash lines; and

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation along the lines 22 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to States Patent Fig. 2,the lamp housing, substantially in the form of a hexahedron, is securedto a vertical wall 5, which may be the front or the rear of the bridgeof a vessel. As illustrated, the housing is open on the rear side andprovided on said side with a flange 6 clamped to the 'Wall 5 by means ofa metal section 7 secured to said wall by screws or other fasteningmeans (not shown), gaskets 8 and 9 2,898,449 Patented Aug. 4, 1959 beingprovided intermediate said section and the lamp housing, andintermediate the lamp housing and the wall 5, respectively.

The fiat top wall 10 of the housing has a slight outward and downwardincline, for instance, of about 5, so that no rain-Water can accumulatethereon.

The flat bottom wall 11 of the housing has a slight outward and upwardincline, for instance of about 3, so that water of condensation that maybe formed Within the housing may be drained through a passage 12, or aplurality of passages in the wall 5.

The flat front wall 13 ofthe lamp housing has an inward and downwardincline of say 15.

The flat side walls 1 4, 15 (Fig. 1) converge in downward direction, andeach of said walls encloses an angle of say 15 -20 with a vertical planeextending at right angles to the wall 5.

The substantially spherical bulb 16 is mounted in conventional manner tothe Wall 5, and is spaced from the walls of the housing a distance ofsay 10 mm.

The walls of the housing may, if desired, be rimpled so as to difiusethe light radiated by the bulb 16 and to further suppress undesiredreflexes of light when shined upon by the sun.

A plurality of said signal lamps are combined to form the signal systemconstituting horizontally and vertically disposed arrows, respectively.

While I have disclosed one embodiment of the present invention, it is tobe understood that this embodiment is given by example only and not in alimiting sense, the scope of the present invention being determined bythe object and the claim.

I claim:

A signal lamp adapted to be mounted on a vessel, comprising a basehaving a recess therein, a transparent housing in the form of ahexahedron open at the rear and attached to said base, said housinghaving a flange portion at the rear thereof disposed adjacent saidrecess of the. base, a gasket disposed in said recess between saidflange portion and said base and having an opening at the bottomthereof, said housing including a flat top wall having a slight outwardand downward incline, so that no rain water can accumulate thereon, afront wall attached to said top wall having a substantially inward anddownward inc-line, and side walls converging in downward direction, aflat bottom wall connected to said front wall and side walls, saidflange portion of said housing adjacent said bottom wall defining withsaid recess in said base a water drain opening, said housing having aspherical lamp bulb therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS GreatBritain Aug. 23, 1934

